Can it get worse?
#171607 - 04/19/05 06:29 PM
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e_mcmaster
Reged: 01/16/05
Posts: 520
Loc: Norman, Oklahoma
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I "got" IBS-C in January 2004. I didn't find out I had it until March and didn't get the whole laxative thing down until April. I was on Zelnorm and things weren't too bad. The only time I was bloated was if I was super C. And then my eating disorder got really bad over the summer and I subsisted on less than 400 calories a day. Those were glorious, glorious days as my IBS was practically non-existant.
Then I started eating more, slowly, and eating really healthily - whole wheat, no sugar, no fatty foods, etc. I would get bloated, but usually only after exercise or maybe one or two times a week... and it was never very bad, just enough that I wondered if I'd gained weight or if it was bloating.
My "9-months-pregnant" bloating started in December, when I was stressed out for finals. I'm sure I'd been super bloated once or twice before that time when I was super C, but it obviously wasn't a constant thing, or I would remember it. (I might "feel fat" a day or two a week, but it wasn't as if my pants didn't fit.)
I found this site and started the elimination diet right before New Year's. I was finally feeling good and things went pretty well for a couple weeks and then it's all been downhill from there.
I don't cheat. I follow the diet absolutely and I take my SFS (I use Citrucel and a little bit of acacia daily), I take my miralax & magnesium, I take all sorts of supplements. I'm not worried about what I'm doing now, because it is "working" somewhat, I'm concerned that my IBS has progressed into a disease that is roughly 250% worse than it was when I wasn't following the diet or taking medicine. Oh, and my stress levels are the same or less than they were last year, so it's not that. I just got engaged and I'm HAPPY except for a disease which seems to just get worse and worse.
So, my big question is: Is it possible for IBS to do this, or is it possible that I have something else that has the same symptoms as IBS? I've not been tested for anything because it always seemed like I fit the IBS characteristics to a T. But now I'm wondering...
Thanks!
Elizabeth
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Elizabeth
all those years it wasn't IBS - it was celiac!
send me an email: liz@dopple.net
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To be on the safe side, I'd get the tests done.
My IBS has gotten worse over time, but mostly as far as the time span of a flare goes. I go in cycles - I'm fine for a few years, and then I have a bad flare that lasts for months... each time I've had a flare, it's gotten progressively longer. But my symptoms have basically stayed the same in 18+ years, which is the primary reason my doctor didn't feel any need to run tests on me. Any sudden or fast-progressing worsening of symptoms would point to a need for tests, but that's just my thoughts on it.
Good luck! 
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Thanks, dear. I'm going to get in bed with a heating pad rather than study for my statistics test. I suppose I'll get that done tomorrow :P
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Elizabeth
all those years it wasn't IBS - it was celiac!
send me an email: liz@dopple.net
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I also think you should see your doctor. It doesn't mean that anything else has gone wrong but gives you peace of mind. My IBS gets worse every year and has done my whole life, I now wish for the days when I was 5 and a couple of minor pains were all I had (although at the time it seemed much worse to me). I've had every test there is for IBS so at least now I can know that nothing awful is going wrong, does'nt help my IBS at all but gives me peace of mind. Good luck and let us know how you go.
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Amy
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Get checked out both by a GI and also a gynecologist (both must be Dr's that you feel like you can talk to, take their time, and don't treat you as if you're making all this stuff UP).
Both of these Dr's can help you rule out other important problems. Good luck!!! And hope finals go well!!
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Take care,
Michelle
...the greatest of these is LOVE. (I Cor 13)
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I think I'm scared to get the tests done because, right now, in the back of my mind there's still hope that maybe I don't have IBS and that's why the diet isn't working perfectly. But if I get the tests done and they all come out negative, then it means that not only do I have IBS, but that all known preventative/proactive guides don't work (completely) for me.
I was also having a bad day yesterday. I woke up considerably less bloated and was finally able to go this morning, so I feel better.
Thank you all so much. You are wonderful, wonderful people and it means so much to me that you support me.
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Elizabeth
all those years it wasn't IBS - it was celiac!
send me an email: liz@dopple.net
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I'm so sorry your having such a rough time right now, Elizabeth. My IBS is very cyclic. I've had IBS since I was about 14, I'm 34 now! I seems to go in months. For a few months, thing will be mild, I'm ALWAYS more gassey than "normal" people, only mild bloating and occasional pain. Than, for months at a time, I get real bad, MAJOR bloating (like the 9 months pregnant bloating you describe, drawstring pants are my friend!) pain everyday, a lot of the time severe enough to take vicodin and Xanax. The gass, pressure and nausea get really bad also. Than, it seems I wake up on day and its a little better. It seems to come and go like this for as long as I can remember. I don't have to eat anything bad to set it off, in fact, I can almost never find the exact reason why it gets so bad sometimes. Stress does seem to play a big role but than there are times when I get really stressed and it doesn't "flare up?"
I have had all the tests done, and them some, so I know there is nothing else wrong with me but its so hard sometimes when you feel SO awful to think its "just" IBS. Hang in there! Lots of love and hugs!
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Taking it one day at a time.....
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Michele
#171742 - 04/20/05 08:28 AM
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Augie
Reged: 10/27/04
Posts: 5807
Loc: Illinois
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I want to tell you again, that your posts make me feel less alone with all this. I detest that you are in pain, but it gives me strength to go on when I read that there is another soul out there who struggles with pain everyday without rhym nor reason. But you continue to go on with your life and seem to keep a positive attitude.
When I am suffering and feeling so very down, I will try to remember you and read some of your posts. Thank you for sharing.
Love!
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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Just kiddin'.. Well not really. You know what I mean 
But yes, I have been through that cycle! Seriously looking 8 or 9 months pregnant! It took me a while to believe that IBS can really do this to a person!  Not to be a Chicken Little, but I think anytime a woman has a lot of abdominal bloating, it is absolutely IMPERATIVE you have seen your GYN and ruled out any kind of ovarian or uterine growths (benign or otherwise can both cause these problems!) before you just blame the IBS for everything. I was diagnosed with IBS by several Dr's (OK 10) and went around sick as a dog for a year before it was discovered I had both, An ovarian mass (small nerf football sized) pressing on my colon, which may have been the "gut insult" that started my severe IBS problems. SO after you have made sure you have no gyn problems, and you have been diagnosed with IBS, yes, this can happen.. BTW have you tried not eating wheat, seriously? and really reading labels to make sure it's gluten free, like the hidden stuff in salad dressing, candy, etc..?? Because after I did this, even though I'm celiac neg, my GP asked me to try this, and I have like ZERO bloating!  I'm a happy girl!
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That's very interesting - I will definitely go get all those tests done. I got a pap smear and all that fun stuff in february, but she didn't do any x-rays or anything like that, so I may not have been as fully checked out as necessary.
I tried not eating wheat for awhile, but found that the bloating didn't really decrease. If it gets bad again, I may try the no-wheat thing again.
Congrats on your zero bloating!  And thanks for your support!
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Elizabeth
all those years it wasn't IBS - it was celiac!
send me an email: liz@dopple.net
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